


Recovery

by Starfleet_Command_Unit_Bi



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:35:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22332742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starfleet_Command_Unit_Bi/pseuds/Starfleet_Command_Unit_Bi
Summary: Jenny isn't murdered by Angelus, but she does have to recover from what he did
Relationships: Jenny Calendar/Rupert Giles
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	Recovery

“Jenny, darling, you’re awake,” Rupert breathed in relief, lifting his head up from where it rested on her hospital bed. The pet name had slipped out without realising it. He’d never used it in their relationship, though the word was always linked to her in his mind. They had split up before Angelus attacked her, before she ended up in the bed, an open wound on the side of her neck, but Rupert didn’t think he’d ever stop loving her. And so, he called her darling again. “How are you feeling?”

“My throat hurts, but it was slashed by a vampire, so it makes sense,” she replied, voice scratchy. “Is … is … he still out there?”

It wasn’t difficult to work out who she was talking about.

“No, no, Buffy killed him. You’re safe from him, I promise, I promise, he will never hurt anyone again. Do you need me to get you a nurse? A doctor?”

“I think I’m okay, for now. Do you know what they said? About my neck?”

“You’ll make a full recovery, there’ll be a scar, but with only minimal irritation, very rarely. Are you sure you don’t need one of the nurses? I’m sure they can explain it to you far better than I can.”

“I’d rather just sleep.”

“Yes, yes, would it-would it upset you too much if I stayed? I know we ended our relationship, but, but I really don’t feel alright leaving you alone, if you don’t want to be. Of course, please don’t feel forced to let me stay here, I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable with me being here or-”

“Stay, Rupert, just stay.”

Jenny fell asleep in a matter of minutes, the painkillers taking effect again. A nurse came in to check her over and change the bandages on her neck, still bloody underneath, red and raw. He could barely look away, feeling an immense sense of guilt weighing on him. If Rupert had been there, if he hadn’t been so stuck in his own head, maybe Jenny wouldn’t have been hurt.

He stayed all night long, falling asleep again, and woke up as the nurse came in for morning rounds. His back hurt, his neck ached, and his heart was still fairly bruised, looking at Jenny, still so pale, hooked up to monitors, so still when she was always full of life and joy. Giles knew that he should check on the rest of the kids, knew that Buffy was struggling after killing Angel, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave Jenny’s side. 

“You’re looking worse than I feel,” Jenny teased, voice still hoarse. 

“How are you doing? Are you feeling any better? The nurse changed your bandages when you were asleep.”

“Rupert,” Jenny said. Her tone was firm and serious and Rupert looked up immediately. “Can you come here, please?”

Rupert moved in closer, looking her in the eye. Jenny had a soft look, almost hesitant, and that was what was strange. He had never seen her look like that before. Before he even realised it, she was moving in and kissing him. He kissed back immediately, melting into her touch, having missed her incredibly in the short span of time they had been apart. 

“I know, you said it, we’re not together anymore, but I wanted to kiss you again,” she said, hurried, when they broke apart. “I’ve missed you, and I’m sorry, and I don’t want this to be all about me getting hurt, or anything like that, but I’ve really missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too, Jenny, so much. We can still talk it over, of course, we have time,” Giles promised, gripping her hand tightly. “But, well, we have this, we can talk, the current crisis is over, at least for the meantime.”

“I guess it is” Jenny replied, smiling. “Don’t suppose you know when I’ll be allowed to leave?”

“It will be a little while longer, I’m afraid,” Rupert told her regretfully. “Your throat was slashed open, Jenny, it is a necessary precaution.”

She hummed in acknowledgement, eyes downcast. Giles knew she had just gone through an immense trauma, that she was laid up in a hospital bed for a minimum of a week, most likely two or three, but he just wanted to do whatever he could to make her smile again. It was selfish, he knew, to focus on that, but it wasn’t like Jenny to not be making jokes, to not be a positive light. Rupert wasn’t exactly great at being positive, but if it was to ease the pain, if it was for Jenny, he would do everything he could.

“I guess that’s fair.”

“Your family-”

“Want nothing to do with me now,” she cut him off. “Especially not after my uncle died.”

Giles was doing a very bad job of being positive, apparently. “Well, that seems quite cruel and foolish, really, who wouldn’t want you in their life? I certainly haven’t coped well, and we still see each other at work.”

“Didn’t really make it any easier,” Jenny mused. “Felt like being punched in the gut every time I saw you, after we broke up, and yet I kept looking for you.”

“I must confess to experiencing the same, uh, sensation, but, quite frankly, I would go through far worse to see you.”

They shared a smile, only small, but it was definitely the start of something.

<>

Jenny was finally allowed to leave the hospital, her strength mostly returned, her emotional state stable enough to think lightly on what had happened, after a month. Of course, she had had to talk to the police, but the people of Sunnydale had more or less accepted that there was not a lot they could do about supernatural crime. The only real concern for those involved in the legality of what happened was whether or not Jenny would sue the school. Her and Snyder had come to a deal, meaning she wouldn’t do so if she got an extension of medical leave, longer than what the hospital had recommended, enough to adjust to the idea of being at the school again.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Giles asked, scurrying around her kitchen after helping Jenny to the sofa. A month of mostly lying in bed made your stamina take a hit. “I’ve got the kettle on for a cup of tea, something nice and warm, and I picked up those biscuits you liked yesterday, I thought it would be a nice homecoming present.”

“It’s so sweet of you to buy me cookies,” Jenny teased, watching him with clear affection. He made a blustering noise at the ‘Americanism’ but continued anyway, bringing over two mugs and a small plate of biscuits a minute later. “Really, thank you for this. It’s so sweet.”

“It’s the least I can do, really, d-Jenny,” he said, stumbling over the last word. Ever since his slip-up at the hospital when Jenny first woke up, he’d caught himself using the pet name at the last second almost every conversation the two of them shared. Jenny gave him a bright smile, taking the tea gratefully. “Are you glad to be home?”

“Very, anything beats hospitals, but there’s just something about being home to make you feel like yourself again.”

They’d talked, when Jenny had regained the ability to do so without great amounts of pain, Rupert had wanted to wait until she was completely healed, Jenny didn’t want to wait at all, so they came to a compromise, about everything. About Jenny’s family, Rupert had held her hand so tightly through that conversation, about her mission, about Buffy and her relationship with Angel, about everything that had happened with Angelus. About how Giles loved her ‘most ardently’, as he had quoted with nerdy enthusiasm, blushing beet red at her equally enthusiastic response.

“I’m glad to hear it,” he said, taking her free hand in his. It was a small sofa, just a little too big to be a loveseat, and they were sat close together, enough that Rupert could feel the warmth of her on his skin, even through two sets of clothes. Jenny no longer needed the injury to be bandaged, though it still looked painfully fresh, and she had to be careful with moving her head, so as not to aggravate it any further. “I love you, I-I really do.”

“I love you too, Rupert. I really, really do.”

They settled into easy conversation, pointedly not mentioning, barely even glancing at, their clasped hands but Rupert felt a wave of delight every time he thought of it, and Jenny felt her stomach flip in the best possible way when she did. Their time apart had been difficult, even without the threat of Angelus and the visit, and then death, of her uncle. The sun was slowly setting, making Jenny feel slightly uneasy as the threat of vampires grew with each passing second, and Giles went to turn on one of the lamps. Jenny got up and followed him, wrapping her arms around him before he turned around, burying her face against his back.

“Oh,” he exclaimed, in his typical manner, tensing before forcing himself to relax. “Is everything alright, dar-Jenny?”

“Yeah. I just need a minute, if that’s alright?”

“Perfectly, perfectly alright.”

Rupert held her hands, crossed over his stomach, stroking his thumb over the backs of them. They stayed there, peacefully, until Jenny felt her heartbeat slow back down to its normal rhythm. She stood on tiptoes and pressed a kiss to the side of his neck, grinning when she saw how flustered it made Giles act.

“Feeling better?” he asked, turning around and cupping her cheek.

“Much better,” Jenny replied. “You know, I wouldn’t mind it.”

“Wouldn’t mind what?”

“You keep almost calling me darling, you actually did call me darling in the hospital. I wouldn’t mind if you wanted to call me that.”

“I wasn’t sure how you would feel about it,” Rupert began nervously, running a hand through his hair. “I was unsure if you would like it. It’s rather old-fashioned, after all, and-”

“You’re pretty old-fashioned, and I love you,” Jenny interrupted, kissing him. “And whilst I don’t think I would have liked any ex I may have had to use it, I quite like hearing you say it.”

“Why?”

The word was out of his mouth before Rupert even actively thought it. Even then, with Jenny in his arms, in her house, knowing that they loved each other, he had a hard time believing that this was his life. And so the insecurity had slipped out, much like the pet name had a month earlier.

“Well, it’s like that whole love language thing, isn’t it? Some people show their love through food, some people show their love through talking, sometimes with actions. You’re all old-fashioned and proper, and that’s how your love shows. And I really like that it shows with me.”


End file.
